TY  - RPRT
        AU  - Akesaka, Mika
AU  - Shigeoka, Hitoshi
        TI  - Hotter Days, Wider Gap: The Distributional Impact of Heat on Student Achievement
        PY  - 2025/Oct/
        PB  - Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        CY  - Bonn
        T2  - IZA Discussion Paper
        IS  - 18165
        UR  - https://www.iza.org/publications/dp18165
        AB  - This study demonstrates that heat disproportionately impairs human capital accumulation among low-performing students compared with their high-performing peers, using nationwide examination data from 22 million students in Japan. Given the strong correlation between academic performance and socioeconomic background, this suggests that heat exposure exacerbates pre-existing socioeconomic disparities among children. However, access to air conditioning in schools significantly mitigates these adverse effects across all achievement levels, with particularly pronounced benefits for lower-performing students. These findings suggest that public investment in school infrastructure can help reduce the unevenly distributed damage caused by heat to student learning, thereby promoting both efficiency and equity.
        KW  - air conditioning
KW  - adaptation
KW  - student achievement
KW  - distributional impact
KW  - heat
KW  - children
KW  - climate change
        ER  -